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I must admit from the get-go, 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 was one of the gaming highlights of my teenage years. Back then, almost 11 years ago, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was still in its prime. The console will always have that first place in my heart. Getting games back then wasn’t as easy as today, being just a kid with limited resources. My parents weren’t fond of sinking their money in console games. But after weeks of negotiations and tons of house chores, I managed to convince them to get me a copy. After that, everything became a blur in months of playing online with friends and endless runs of the campaign mode. Who cares about summer and real-life with games like this? The COD multiplayer essence was still strong then, with Modern Warfare 2 being one of the best from the series.

You can imagine that I was quite surprised and almost over the roof in excitement to hear that Activision might be releasing a remastered version of the game. Nostalgia started kicking in again. I was almost able to remember all of the good times I had with the original MW2. All the lasting friendships that were made. But don’t get too excited… because it’s not the complete experience as I was expecting. Sadly, the publisher decided that only the single-player campaign will be making a return in 2020. This leaves out arguably the most important part: the multiplayer. Oh, and Spec Ops, but does anyone really care about that?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to once again experience one of the most engaging and fun COD campaigns. Despite this, it kinda crushed my dreams a bit. Good thing the game is priced accordingly, with a $20 price tag for almost 10 hours of amazing gameplay. I can understand the decision to not bring back the multiplayer since it would kinda split the player base between the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the old one. Going in just one direction with the multiplayer is a good decision for the company. It might even earn them more money in the long run than just cashing in on a few more bucks for the remaster.

But letting feelings, memories, tears, and everything away, Beenox did a great job remastering the game. Every corner of MW2 Remastered has been visually adjusted to match the current generation expectations. Memories and nostalgia can be deceiving. In my mind, this is exactly how I remembered the original game looking on the Xbox 360! But I couldn’t be more wrong, as comparing them side by side, the difference is astounding. I could never go back and play the original experience after what I saw in the remastered version. Apart from visuals, some of the guns also got some audio quality upgrades, though not all of them. This kinda makes for an inconsistent experience considering that some guns sound like an old tin can, and others like the biggest destructive weapons.

I won’t be talking much about the storyline or character development. It’s an 11 year old game, and fans probably don’t care to hear about it again. They’d much rather relive the experience themselves. With that in mind, I have to mention the impact the story had on me. This is especially the case with the mission “No Russian”. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m older now, but I feel like I understand the gravity of some things better. It’s not ruining the fun, but it’s an eye-opener for me. Honestly, back then, I pretty much enjoyed mindlessly obliterating every single pixel shown on my screen.

Apart from the story campaign, the museum is back too, which is exactly what you would expect. An in-game museum that lets you walk through exhibits such as airplanes, weapons, and much more. It’s very interesting to see the amount of detail in some of these things, especially when seeing them a lot closer and without enemies trying to shoot you. Some will find it boring, possibly even skipping it, but for a long time fan as myself, I can say it was quite interesting to analyze some things closer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered delivers an awesome experience, revived in a truly amazing way by Beenox. You can see they truly loved the game, as even the tiniest details show utmost care. It’s sad that we don’t get to play the multiplayer once more, but that’s a decision I can respect and can live with. And despite rumors, Activision currently has no official plans of bringing it back in the future. If you are an old fan of the game, I sincerely recommend you to pick up this game and relieve one of the most iconic Call of Duty campaigns. And if you weren’t playing when MW2 was originally released and you know nothing about this game, I can only say: go get it NOW!